Wednesday 12 March 2025
Labor’s Crime Crisis: Allan’s ‘Bail Backflip’ comes too late for victims
Premier Jacinta Allan’s admission of failure on bail laws is cold comfort to the victims of crime who have suffered because of Labor’s reckless weakening of the justice system.
Shadow Attorney-General Michael O’Brien said Labor had been dragged kicking and screaming into today’s announcement, not out of conviction, but because polling told them they had no choice.
“The Premier may have apologised for her poor judgment on bail laws, but that’s no comfort to the families of crime victims who suffered because this government got it so badly wrong,” Mr O’Brien said.
“The reality is, Labor’s instinct is always to weaken bail laws, not strengthen them. They’ve been forced into this position by public outrage, not by any real belief in protecting Victorians.”
Despite the announcement, Labor still refuses to provide details or release the legislation, leaving key questions unanswered.
“Where’s the detail? Where are the bills? If the government was serious about fixing the mess they created, they’d have legislation available today,” Mr O’Brien said.
“We’ll scrutinise every line of these laws, because Victorians can’t trust Labor to get it right. The last time Labor changed bail laws, they made Victoria less safe – why should anybody trust them now?”
Shadow Minister for Police David Southwick said Jacinta Allan had let the crime crisis spiral out of control, and Victorians had no reason to believe she would suddenly fix it now.
“You can’t trust the people who created the problem to fix it,” Mr Southwick said.
“Jacinta Allan let the genie out of the bottle, and now she expects Victorians to trust her to put it back in? It doesn’t work that way.”
Labor has talked big on cracking down on crime, but still refuses to take decisive action, with no answers on when machetes will be banned or when new bail laws will take effect.
“This is a crime crisis that Jacinta Allan and her Labor Government created. They’ve had months to fix it, yet they still won’t say when tougher laws will come in,” Mr Southwick said.
The Liberals and Nationals will fight to ensure bail laws are genuinely toughened, holding Labor to account and ensuring that public safety comes first – not politics.